Cephas joins elected officials to call for state, local reform of community-police relationships
Rep. Morgan B. Cephas June 3, 2020 | 10:19 AM
Following a weekend of peaceful protests and eventual unrest fueled by the murder of George Floyd, state Rep. Morgan Cephas joined other Philadelphia elected officials Tuesday to introduce a series of critical reforms aimed at strengthening community-police relationships.
"We must continue our fight to protect our communities of color from police brutality and systemic oppression, which has been an ongoing conversation in Pennsylvania for far too long," said Cephas, D-Phila. "This requires a collaborative effort involving leaders and agencies from all levels of government to pass laws aimed at streamlining police procedures and improving police community relations to help prevent future tragedies like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery from happening in the future.
The reforms target actions that can be taken by the governor, the General Assembly, local city councils, and law enforcement agencies and include, among other things:
- Outlaw the use of chokeholds or any other action that constricts an airway by law enforcement.
- Establish an independent review process for any incident law enforcement encounter that results in serious injury or death.
- Require law enforcement to be mandated reporters of officer misconduct or corruption.
- End stop and frisk policies that disproportionately target black and brown communities.
- Create a deputy inspector general focused on deterring, detecting and preventing misconduct, brutality, waste, fraud and abuse within law enforcement agencies;
- Create a civil unrest damage recovery fund.
- Create an independent civilian-led and managed review board with subpoena and disciplinary powers to recommend internal affairs and criminal investigations.
"I certainly share in everyone's anger and frustration over George Floyd's death and the systematic racism that continues plaguing our black and brown communities," explained Cephas. "Our communities are hurting and trying to process yet another traumatic experience in our long history of brutality. At this time, we must band together to stand up against oppression and demand justice."
A full list of proposed reforms can be found here.